Defend Your Heart
by DarkPoisonousLove
Summary: Valtor seeks out Griffin to celebrate his victory in the courtroom. The only problem is that his victory is her loss and the rules they've set aren't holding, for emotions have always been unruly. Lawyer AU.


**A/N: ****I've had this idea for more than 8 months and I finally got what I needed to finish it! Hope you'll like it as much as I do!**

The door opened and the way it was done as well as the sound of his steps told her it was Valtor. Though, the mere fact that he'd just barged in without knocking would have been enough on its own. Everyone else had enough respect–probably even fear of her–to request permission when they wanted a fraction of her time. He was always so self-assured and brazen, though, that it brought her satisfaction to ignore him and watch him try to find ways to get her attention.

She didn't look up from her paperwork even when she heard the key turning in the lock. He'd have to try harder to pique her interest, and even more so if he wanted her to go along with the thoughts she could practically hear running through his mind.

"That was some great work there," Valtor said as he approached her desk, his steps quick and even, full of confidence that he could almost justify. Almost. "I almost didn't win the case." She could hear the smile in his voice that was rather misplaced, considering what had happened in the courtroom.

"You wouldn't have won it if I hadn't let you," she said in a cold tone and without looking at him. She still had some work to do and once he got her to focus on him she could kiss that thought goodbye. So she was trying to use the seconds she still had to the best of her ability–his voice was making it harder to concentrate the more he talked–and get done as much as she could. Optimally, she wouldn't let him distract her before she'd finished all of her work but even her will of iron wasn't enough to accomplish that when he'd set his mind on getting her to focus on him. He was like a dragon in that regard, hoarding the attention she paid him and stealing time with her at every opportunity.

"Ouch!" Valtor said as he came to stand in front of her desk, his voice so overly dramatic that she would've rolled her eyes if it was anyone else. He thrived on getting reactions like that from her, though, so she refused to reward him for his ridiculousness. "I asked for a simple favor," he said as he leaned on her desk, invading her personal space as he did so and making it damn near impossible to ignore him. She was surprised he'd lasted that long before undertaking a more aggressive approach to have her acknowledge him. "There was no need to kick me so hard in the ego."

Griffin stopped writing mid-sentence with the tip of her pen still touching the paper and looked at him now that there was something that interested her more than her paperwork. "Why do you even need those little witches?" Apart from the ridiculous names, the three brats were also completely insufferable and the most arrogant and annoying delinquents she'd ever had to deal with. The only unusual thing about them was that instead of committing arson, they'd managed to freeze an entire boutique. The fact that no one knew how they'd done it had won him the case _only_ because she hadn't given it her everything. Otherwise, those three would've been headed to jail at this precise moment instead of to the nearest club to celebrate their reinstated freedom.

"Don't worry about them," Valtor said as he rounded her desk and sat down on it, making himself at home and most certainly crumpling her paperwork–she pursed her lips and let her pen fall out of her grasp but her displeasure didn't seem to register in his mind–now that she'd allowed him to be the center of her attention. "You're the only witch I need." He grinned at her before leaning down to kiss her but she turned her head away which he only took as an invitation to run his knuckles over her cheek.

"Then why did you ask me to hold back on this case?" she asked as she tried to focus her gaze on something that would keep her mind off the feeling of his skin on hers. His touch caused her lips to part as she exhaled as inconspicuously as possible but the glimpse of his expression she caught from the corner of her eye told her he'd caught her red-handed. At least she'd stopped blushing when he got all tender and soft with her so that was a small victory in her book.

Valtor grasped gently at her chin, guiding her head back to its previous position and compelling her to look at him again. "So that I could take you on a vacation with the money they're paying me."

The amusement his voice was laced with as he threw that mockery of an answer in her face was repulsive and caused her to pull away from his touch even if it pained her to do so. It pained her more when he treated her like that and regarded her with distrust, feeling the need to hide the truth from her, and if rejection was what it took for him to stop doing it, she was prepared to play the long game.

Valtor let his fingers trail down her neck, causing a shiver to run through her and demolish her cold facade. "They can be useful," he said, his gaze focused on her skin, before he leaned in and attached his lips to the tender flesh of her neck, infecting her with his passion that he'd hidden far better than she could hope to manage.

"For what?" Griffin asked, holding on to the hurt and doubts in her mind that were the only thing keeping her from getting carried away in the caresses of his mouth on her sensitive skin. "What can they do that the two of us can't?" They were formidable in their own right and famous throughout the city for their merciless approach to their work, but together they were more than a force to be reckoned with. They were unstoppable. Which begged the question why he needed some spoiled brats when he had her to give him everything he could need.

"Is that jealousy I'm detecting?" Valtor asked, his lips tickling her skin since he couldn't be bothered to pull away from her even as he spoke and she could feel his smirk. It had the sharpness of a blade pressed against her throat and it brought on a sense of alarm that she'd never wanted to associate with him.

"You're impossible to talk to," she huffed and tried to roll her chair away from him but he caught the armrests and held her trapped in her place. She had to slap his hand away when he reached to touch her again since she didn't feel safe in his grasp yet.

"Don't be like that, Griffin," Valtor said as he started pulling out the pins that held her hair–he loved playing with the long tresses and the fact that it drove her crazy only fed his infatuation–in place instead and the playfulness in his voice was masking a genuine plea that made her heart melt even though he was trying to keep it from her. And it was that behavior of his that required her to hide her feelings behind a snappy tone and a chilly demeanor. He wasn't ready to trust her with his feelings and she was afraid that if she showed hers, it would give him an unfair advantage over her. So she kept them locked away even if it didn't really help.

"You know the rules," she said, doing her best to keep her eyes open as he ran his fingers through her hair. "Business is business. We don't mix work with pleasure," she almost brought herself down when her voice nearly fizzled out as she got lost in the sensations he was making her feel as he tugged on her hair. "Yet, you've asked me to hold back on this case and you won't even tell me why although I helped you," she managed to gather her thoughts enough to finish her point now that his hands fell away from her purple locks, giving her hope that she'd gotten through to him.

"I'm just making connections that can be helpful in the future," Valtor offered as he switched to unbuttoning her shirt, leaving her slightly disappointed both with him–though, he'd given her something at least and she was nothing if not persistent so she was confident she could get the whole truth out of him–and with herself as her breath hitched, drawing his gaze to her breasts if it hadn't already been focused on them.

"What can those three help you with?" she asked even if that was the last thing she wanted to think about right now. She would greatly prefer to just let herself get lost in his skillful touch and allow him to make her feel like the only woman in the universe with the way he always worshiped every inch of her. But that was exactly what he was aiming for so that he'd get out of talking to her and she couldn't allow it. No matter how tempted she was. And she was always tempted beyond measure when he was involved.

"Not them," Valtor said, knitting his brows when a button didn't yield to his manipulations. "The people they know, though, are a different caliber," he said, staring hard at the skin he was leaving exposed. Not that he lacked a healthy appreciation for her body, but the look in his eyes wasn't one he usually regarded her with and set off all kinds of alarms in her head.

Griffin grasped at his wrists to stop him and prompt him to look at her. "What are you getting yourself into?" she asked, swallowing hard at the seriousness that had taken over his features. She rarely saw that from him out of the courtroom and it was never good. It caused her stomach to get tied in a knot and he must have read the tension in her body, for he dropped the grave look but that couldn't erase it from her memory.

"No mixing pleasure and business, remember?" he asked as he cupped her cheek, having her instantly leaning into the touch, and smiled softly at her eagerness at the contact. "It's best that you don't know anyway," he said, the affection and protectiveness in his voice tugging fiercely at her heartstrings, before he leaned in to pepper kisses all over the part of her breasts left uncovered by her bra.

"Just don't get yourself in danger, okay?" she asked as she let her eyes close and her mind shut down since his kisses were the only thing that brought her comfort and she needed to enjoy them despite the screams in her head. The lack of response from him made her content short-lived, though, forcing her eyes to snap open. "Valtor!" she cupped his face and lifted his head to make sure he could see in her eyes what she wasn't ready to tell him. "Promise me," she implored, for that was the only way to be certain. He'd always kept his word to her, even when it was obvious it was the last thing he wanted to do.

"I'm not going to start lying to you now," Valtor said as he covered her hands with his and took them off his face, holding them in his warm grasp but even that couldn't chase away the chills that were running through her like cruel echoes of his words. The kisses he laid on her palms were what brought her back to the present where he was still in her hands and whatever he was getting mixed up into hadn't pulled him away from her.

"Then do me a favor," she spoke and her voice sounded distant to her. Like it wasn't her that had said that, it wasn't her who had accepted that he could be taken away from her by whatever unrealistic ambitions of grandeur he'd decided to chase. "Kiss me like you'll never get to kiss me again," she whispered, her hands closing at the collar of his shirt as she pulled him closer, her nose pressed against his and her mouth almost on his. "Always," she barely managed to say before his lips covered hers and it was the kiss that didn't allow her to breathe and not the fear for his safety.


End file.
